For a great many years, legends have circulated around the Elemental Fyres, or Four Flames of the Ether. It was said that eons ago, the four Dragon Lords warred over these stones, each wishing to own all of them, and be master of all matter.
The four stones were embodiements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water...and each lord aligned to each stone had a unique personality much like the stones.
The Fire Lord, Vulcan, was a rash man, leader of the Charred Wastes to the East. His armies were warriors, fierce and proud. They held the largest portion of land, but it was not enough for Vulcan...with the power of the Stones, he would gain dominion over all.
The Water Lord, Aquis, was a dragon of learning. He outwitted his enemies with careful and strategic planning rather than brute strength. His Atlantean-esque citadel lay in the Nekark Sea to the West, where it thrived with culture. Aquis sought to make his land better, smarter, more cultured than ever before. His land was the second largest.
The Earth Lord, Gollorum, had his lands in the North, in miles of underground mines and the Rawkfang Mountains. He was a tradesman, a craftsman, as was natural for an earth-born being. He sought not conquest, but land control, to gain access to trade routes formerly owned by the other lords. With them, he would become the richest. His lands were the the third largest.
The Wind Lord, who was known as Aero, merely sought protection. He was a diviner; all of his dragons were nomadic mages. He saw terrors of the future. He sought to hide the stones, to keep them safe from the other lords. He knew though, that his choice may cost him his life, but such was the sacrifice of protecting the lands. His lands were desert, where the only protection for the Aero dragons were the constant sandstorms.
In the middle was the land of the humans. Their lands were left well enough alone, for they were puny and quick to frighten under the Dragon Lords' might. The lush forests were too thick to be penetrated, though Vulcan tried every year. These lands were protected by the great Celestial Beings, who had created humans as beings to watch, to learn from, beings that were different from the dragons scattered across the Gaian Plane. Aero was the only one who chose to protect them willingly, Vulcan sought to destroy them, and Aquis and Gollorum merely thought them a nuisance to be ignored.
The Celestial Beings were also aware of the power of the Fyre Stones, but they did not interfere with the Gaian mortals...for they were in their own clash.
The Being of the Land of Ether, Firus, had been bound by his sister, Gaea, the Beingess of Life, after he had blinded her. Firus and his companion, Death, sought to destroy her and all her creations completely, and it was only the interventions of the other Beings that Gaea was spared. In anger, they gave Death's powers to Luminpa, Beingess of the Moon and Night. Solune, Being of the Sun and Judgement, kept her power in check, and left Firus and Death bound. But it still burdened their hearts to hear the pleas of the humans as they begged for mercy from the Celestials, who the humans believed could stop Vulcan's armies.
* * * * *
As time passed, the location of the stones was discovered.
An ancient temple, buried deep in the ground, far beyond even Gollorum's span, was found at the Four Boundaries, where the four kingdoms touched. Fed by springs, underground, on a bed of magma rock, strange winds blew through the temple, eerily echoing about. But the communion of elemental force was not the only thing that made the temple unique. There was a sentient, invisible presence permeating the temple...it frightened the holy men who were protecting the stones, and they soon fled in terror, leaving the place abandoned-
-but not without due caution. This was the Shadebeast, a monster meant to protect the stones and the Temple. This made the prize all the more desirable for the Lords, who were now aware of the temple's existence.
The first to approach was Aero, who changed his form, becoming one with the winds that blew through the cavern, and the monster had no idea Aero was even there.
Aquis used his knowledge of the underground springs to swim along one, past the monster, and emerging completely unharmed.
Gollorum met the monster face to face, but he threw shimmering gems from one of his mines down a side cavern, and the playful Shadebeast ran after them in joy. Gollorum too, passed by unscathed.
However...when Vulcan entered, he made no attempt to distract or run past hte beast. He gave a fierce cry, and attacked, hacking, stabbing, ruthlessly murdering the Shadebeast, then, without bothering to clean the blood from his sword, headed down toward the cavern of the stones.
Aero was the first to reach the cavern. He came out of one of four doorways, which had a small dervish symbol above it. The others had a rock, a flame, and a water drop. He looked around, and saw it was a simple stone tomb, with carvings on the wall and an offering stand under the altar where each elemental stone glowed. He saw the stones up close, his yellow eyes glittering, enraptured. Suddenly, the eerie moan began again, and a glowing mist rose out of the middle of the stone altar where the stones sat. The mist was a spirit, and it spoke to Aero.
"Well done, young Dragon Lord of the Winds...you have come far, and as you are the first to reach this place, you shall also be the first to hear the truth of these stones..."
"The stones are not just the embodiement of the elements...they contain their own Fyre, or soul, and I, as a being of the Land of Ether, am pure Fyre now as well. But these stones are so much more...they have so much potential to do more than just destroy one's enemies or make one's kingdom great...so much more power, that in the right claws...or hands...that the world can be changed for the good of all."
"You have incredibly good intentions, and you seek to protect. But too much sheltering can lead to trouble, Scarred One..."
Aero gasped. The spirit knew?
"Oh yes, young one...you may hide your face beneath your robe's hood, but I can still see-"
However, the other lords Aquis and Gollorum soon burst out of the drop and stone doors.
"Aero! What treachery is this?!" Aquis looked from the spirit, who gasped and disappeared into a wisp back to the altar. He glared with cold eyes, as light and blue as can be...but hard, like ice.
"You sought to take the stones for yourself!" Aero raised his claws in a gesture of peace, but Aquis was highly incensed, shaking the end of his nevermelting ice lance in the scarred and hidden face of Aero. He was starting to regret leaving his staff and crystal orb back at the Tempest Door.
"Oi, ya stupid bratling, we know ya wanted to hide them stones fer yer little dirt pile land to be protected!
